Blue and Gold
by Ravenclaweruditeowl
Summary: Until they meet their soulmate one can only see shades of grey and one other color: the color of their soulmate's eyes. Arthur never would have been allowed to marry his soulmate but he would have liked to know them instead of being ordered to kill them. But there were no exceptions to the law against magic — and Arthur's vision had switched between blue & gold his whole life.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Now, Arthur, which of these blocks looks different from the rest?"

Arthur looked around at the painted wooden blocks that surrounded him as he sat in the middle of his play space. Everything looked to be of similar color. "Grey" he had been told. But one block stood out to him. It was different, shining brightly among dull grey tones.

"That." Arthur pointed at the block and his nurse smiled at him before turning to Arthur's father.

"His soulmate's eyes are blue, Your Majesty -"

"Now that one," Arthur piped up again. Both the King and Arthur's nursemaid turned to look at the interruption. Arthur pointed at another block a short distance away from the first as it flickered into a different color before fading. Arthur frowned, confused. "Gone."

Arthur's nursemaid looked nervously at the king. "Blue and gold it seems."

Uther's face turned from pleasant to furious in only a few seconds. "My son with a magical soulmate? Impossible. It can't possibly be true. All my work to make sure that he would not face the corruptive power of sorcery, and _soulmate magic_," the words twist into a monster when they leave his mouth, "gets in the way!"

Uther's fists curled around the armrests of his chair before he turned once more to the Maid. "No one is to know of this, you understand."

The maid nodded. "I will not tell a soul, sire."

She turned back to look at the small boy who was now gathering all the blocks and stacking them in a tower - the blue and gold ones at the top. It wouldn't be easy keeping the fact that the prince could see two colors secret, but now, it looked like her life might depend on it.


	2. Chapter 1

**So, originally this chapter was going to be longer, and Arthur would meet Merlin in it, but a) I gave more time for Morgana to shine than I had planned and b) I just wanted to post more quickly, and this is the point I had reached. Don't worry, there will be a meeting in chapter 2. **

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"It wasn't her?" Morgana asked.

Arthur and Morgana stood side by side on the balcony overlooking the square where hundreds of people stood around the place of execution. Arthur watched as a young girl was lead to the centre of the square to her death.

"No. It wasn't her. And if it was, there could be nothing done about it."

Arthur ignored the look Morgana gave him, and his nausea at the thought of having to watch his soulmate be beheaded, hang, or burn. This blue-eyed sorceress hadn't been the one, but one day Arthur's soulmate would be caught, surely.

Even though this girl hadn't been Arthur's soulmate, he still hated to see her die. Ever since Uther had found out that Arthur could see both blue and gold, every magic-user with blue eyes had to shake hands with Arthur before they were burned. That way, Arthur would gain the ability to see all colours, even if he couldn't keep his soulmate.

Every time Arthur had touched the people that were condemned to die, every time they pleaded with him to save them, to put in a good word… Arthur felt like his heart would burn away with them.

Arthur tried to ignore the scene in the courtyard below him. Morgana took Arthur's hand in hers. It was the only time she ever showed any obvious sign of comfort or affection for Arthur, but Arthur could always rely on it. Morgana's presence as they were once again forced to watch someone burn was a promise between the two of them. Sometimes the promise wasn't one they could act on right away. Arthur couldn't stop the executions until he was King, for example. Sometimes the promise was as simple as a pledge to keep each other's secrets, or an assurance that they would always be there for each other, even if, to outsiders at least, the two never looked to be close.

Uther's face was absent of expression as he ordered the axe brought down. It stayed blank until he turned around and walked back into the castle.

His leave permitted his son and his ward to go back inside as well.

Arthur and Morgana stopped holding hands, but that didn't mean that their talk was over. They didn't need to share a single word to know that they would see each other again before sunset on a tower balcony.

"What do you think it's like?" Arthur asked. He stared out at the landscape around him. The view was the same one he had seen since childhood. The rooftops of houses, the wall around Camelot's citadel, and the forest that never seemed to end.

"Seeing the sunset?" Morgana clarified.

"I was thinking more about seeing other colours in general."

Morgana leaned onto the wall of the balcony and followed Arthur's gaze out to the forest. "Probably makes life a lot easier. Every time Geoffrey says 'now, Nemeth's flag has red and blue,' and I have to remind him that I can't see either it makes me want to gauge his eyes out."

Arthur laughed. "Let's not get violent. But, the other day, one of my knights asked me to toss him the yellow decorated shield."

"Let me guess: you challenged him to a duel for speaking with such insensitivity."

He only shrugged this time. He had meant to make a joke out of the situation, but Morgana's remark about insensitivity made the humour disappear.

"I stared at him for a few seconds until he realized what he'd said. Went all red in the face and started stammering when I handed him the right one. It's was the only shield with any sort of painted decoration, so I knew which it was."

"How civil of you." The usual bite in Morgana's words had returned. "I would've expected some sort of verbal punishment at least."

Arthur chose not to comment. It was true. Normally he would've scolded the younger knight for his careless words, but the prospect of meeting another sorceress who could be his soulmate had left him distracted. It wasn't as if he hadn't gotten used to those around him being able to see what he couldn't. The older he got, the more people he associated with had already found their soulmates. Of course, there were always those who would never meet their soulmate, never be able to see colour.

Some part of him, the side that was terrified of seeing his soulmate die, hoped that they would never meet. But Arthur really wanted to know what all the fuss about colour was about. His knights that could see different colours often found tracking and soldier identification easier to learn than those who couldn't.

That didn't change that Arthur was one of the best sword fighters they had. Colours or no colours, Arthur would not let himself fall behind anyone.

"Let's not pretend that colour is the only thing on your mind," Morgana said after she let Arthur think for a minute.

"It should be." Arthur avoided Morgana's eyes. "I shouldn't think about them, or I'll have hope that I'll get to know them. And you know I won't."

"Neither of us knows, Arthur."

"It's a pretty solid prediction that I won't."

"Maybe you won't meet him or her until you're king and can change the law."

Changing the law. Until Morgana had told him about her dreams - how they were, in fact, magic - Arthur hadn't been planning to change the law at all. He didn't understand how his soulmate could be evil, but all magic users were, so they had to be too. Morgana had changed all of that.

He couldn't look at the girl who was basically his sister and see the evil that Uther promised would be there.

That was when he had started to pay attention to all the hands he had to shake. That was when he started hearing their pleas for his help and actually listening.

0o0o0o0

"This is insane," Morgana muttered.

Arthur nodded. "Executions for magic two days in a row."

"And perfect timing too. What better way to celebrate 20 years of 'peace' than by showing the people more death?"

"Let this serve as a lesson to all." Uther recited a similar, though not exactly the same, speech as he had the day before with the girl. "This man, Thomas James Collins, is adjudged guilty of conspiring to use enchantments and magic. And, pursuant to the laws of Camelot, I, Uther Pendragon, have decreed that such practices are banned on penalty of death. I pride myself as a fair and just king, but for the crime of sorcery, there is but one sentence I can pass."

Arthur's father raised his arm, then lowered it.

Thomas Collins' head was severed from his body before Uther's arm had reached his side again.

"When I came to this land, this kingdom was mired in chaos, but with the people's help magic was driven from the realm. So I declare a festival to celebrate twenty years since the Great Dragon was captured and Camelot freed from the evil of sorcery. Let the celebrations begin."

Arthur started to turn to go back inside when he heard the wailing. An old woman had appeared out of nowhere (or maybe she had just been in the crowd, Arthur hadn't been paying attention) and addressed Camelot's king.

"There is only one evil in this land, and it is not magic! It is you! With your hatred and your ignorance! You took my son! And I promise you, before these celebrations are over, you will share my tears. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a son for a son."

"Seize her!"

She disappeared in a whirl of wind and smoke before anyone could take more than a few steps in her direction.

Uther stood for a moment, furious, before he turned to his son.

"She will not succeed. Your protection will be the highest priority. That witch will be caught and brought to justice for her crimes."

Arthur winced. For all he believed about the innocence of magic in itself, he did hope that this sorceress was caught.

He wasn't quite ready to die yet.

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**Reviews are appreciated :) **


	3. Chapter 2

His fear and confusions about magic manifested in an increased aptitude for irritation, anger and focus. It probably wasn't a good habit when he wasn't on a battlefield, and Arthur knew it.

He also didn't care much. At least not in the moment.

He'd made his knights train nearly an hour overtime that morning, and the few still with him were ready for a break. This break, Arthur decided, would be in the form of switching from sword training to throwing daggers. Or, perhaps Arthur really would give them a break and give something amusing instead.

"Where's the target." He asked Dorris, the servant who had been directed to bring one out. Morris (what was his name, actually?) had been Arthur's servant for the past month. Arthur had requested a new one the previous week, but after some verbal punches from Morgana, he had decided to give him another week.

The knights laughed behind him.

"There, Sir?" Borris looked back at them, clearly nervous.

Arthur looked where the servant had pointed. "It's into the sun?"

"But, it's not that bright," he protested.

"A bit like you, then?"

Another titter from the crowd got louder when Arthur joined in and gave them all permission to laugh.

When the serving boy began to carry the target back towards the wall, Arthur heard one of the youngest knights say "Teach him a lesson!"

Arthur grinned and whispered back. "This'll teach him."

The group of young knights laughed and eagerly repeated Arthur's words. Arthur knew that they only wanted to please him and gain a higher standing, but, once again, he didn't care. He was going to make this an enjoyable day, despite the circumstances.

He threw the dagger at the still moving target.

"Hey! Hang on!" Loris yelped, peering over the target with a look that rivaled that of a cornered prey animal.

"Don't stop!" Arthur commanded with a laugh.

The servant took a few steps back.

"Here?"

"I told you to keep moving!" He threw another dagger at the target still in his servant's hands. "Come on! Run! We want some moving target practice."

Morris kept on shuffling towards the wall with the target. Arthur threw more daggers as the laughter continued around him. He grinned.

It didn't last as long as Arthur had hoped. The serving boy dropped the target, letting it roll away to land at someone else's feet.

The young man with blue eyes - he always noticed when people had blue eyes or blue anything for that matter - held his foot over the target to prevent Arthur's servant from retrieving it.

"Hey, come on, that's enough."

"What?" Who in Camelot would dare interrupt him? Everyone knew it could get them a day in the stocks, or even in prison.

"You've had your fun, my friend."

He really was an idiot if he thought he could call the Prince of Camelot a 'friend.' "Do I know you?" Arthur walked closer to the stranger.

"Er, I'm Merlin." The boy offered out his hand for Arthur to shake.

"So I don't know you." As expected. The stranger clearly wasn't from Camelot if he was acting like this.

Merlin dropped his hand. "No."

"Yet you called me 'friend.'"

"That was my mistake."

"Yes, I think so."

"Yeah. I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass."

Arthur bit back a laugh as Merlin started to walk away. Maybe a bit of good fortune was due to come his way. He would enjoy warning Merlin to be wary of his hero complex.

"Or I one who could be so stupid," Arthur said, hoping it would get Merlin to stop.

It did.

"Tell me, Merlin, do you know how to walk on your knees?"

"No."

"Would you like me to help you?"

"I wouldn't if I were you."

Merlin was close enough that Arthur could see his eyes even more clearly. He wished they weren't so damn blue. He wished he could stop thinking about his soulmate for at least one day.

Arthur chuckled. "Why? What are you going to do to me?" Merlin really didn't know who he was dealing with. At all. As if context clues weren't enough to make a guess at how important Arthur was. As a knight, Arthur was a well-muscled fighter. Merlin wasn't completely scrawny, but he definitely wasn't a fighter. He would stand no chance against Arthur.

"You have no idea."

"Be my guest! Come on! Come on!" Arthur held his arms wide, offering a free first shot. "Come oooon."

He and Merlin had gradually moved closer during their conversation, so it wasn't so hard for Merlin to prepare to swing at him. Years of combat training didn't fail Arthur at that moment. He spotted the motion and caught Merlin's arm.

The world exploded in colour.

Out of habit, Arthur kept going, continuing to twist Merlin's arm behind his back, but his mind wasn't focused on the task. His mind was focused on all the silvers, browns, greens yellows, and reds that he could finally see, and shit, he'd just met his dumbass soulmate in front of a group of his knights and civilians.

His knights chorused sounds of surprise and something in Arthur's gut twisted in fear he'd rarely ever felt previously before he realized that his companions were just surprised that Merlin had actually taken the bait and tried to hit Arthur. They hadn't noticed Arthur's entire world change, even though Arthur was pretty sure he had stumbled back a step or two in surprise.

Letting go of Merlin was not an option, it wasn't something he would have done normally, and he had to act normal or his soulmate would be caught. _Quickly, Arthur, what would you have done if this hadn't happened_?

"I'll have you thrown in jail for that," He said. He could only see the side of Merlin's face, but Arthur could tell he was confused.

Soulmates weren't supposed to throw each other in jail. Taking a risk, Arthur leaned in closer and whispered, "If you tell anyone you're my soulmate you'll get worse than that." It wasn't a threat, exactly. It was a warning. That probably sounded like a threat. Arthur hoped Merlin was smart enough to see past it.

It took a moment for Merlin to respond, and Arthur could see that he'd gotten distracted by looking around at all the new colours, but at last, he said, "What, who do you think you are? The King?"

"No. I'm his son, Arthur."

Merlin's eyes went wide with what Arthur thought he recognized as fear before Arthur pushed him down to his knees and let the guards take him.

He tried not to stare as Merlin was half dragged into the castle but failed.

When the three men disappeared around a corner, Arthur turned back to his men.

He'd never have guessed that red would be such a jarring colour, yet he found himself wanting to look at the knights' red shirts instead of their eyes like he normally did. The color felt like a punch in the face, and surrounded by green and brown, it was more than a tad bit disorienting.

"Er," he hesitated. "Dismissed until tomorrow." The knights nodded and walked away slowly, talking and laughing with each other as if nothing had changed.

And nothing had changed, not for them. Arthur knew he wouldn't be able to focus on much else until his eyes and brain had adjusted, and he still had this whole soulmate thing to figure out. He felt a twinge of guilt for any pain he had caused, and for probably scaring Merlin out of his mind. Was his soulmate now in a cell somewhere thinking that he would be executed? Did Merlin even know how severely magic was punished in Camelot? If so, he sure didn't act like it.

Arthur hadn't acted like it either. He was normally very careful to keep his wits about him whenever he was around someone with blue eyes, no matter the person's age or gender, but the one time he let himself get carried away…

So much for good luck.

When he was younger, before he found out that Morgana had magic and changed his view on everything, he had imagined meeting his soulmate on some heroic quest. His soulmate was always the villain or someone in his way. The quest always ended with Arthur gaining the ability to see colour. Sometimes in his dreams, his soulmate escaped. Sometimes they were brought back to Camelot and given to his father.

When his views changed, he started to allow a little more hope into his thoughts. His soulmate was a princess from an ally kingdom who had been forced to hide her magic just as Morgana had. It a strange twist of fate, Uther and the other King arranged their marriage, bringing the two together purely by accident. He hadn't even truly considered the possibility that his soulmate could be male until he talked to Morgana about it and realized that she never referred to her own soulmate as specifically he or she.

Back in his own room, Arthur collapsed on his bed, still fully dressed, and stared at the canopy above him. Red. Why was every piece of fabric in the castle this brash colour, so different from the cool blues and greys he was used to?

He didn't really know what he should do. He couldn't let Merlin out of his cell at least for a few hours or the people who knew him well would suspect something. He also thought he might tear himself to pieces if he just left him there.

_Just one night_, he thought. _Then you can go talk to him_. Then he realized what he was thinking and his stomach fluttered again. He was going to talk to _his soulmate_. His idiot soulmate who had foolishly challenged a prince, but that act oddly only made him seem more attractive now.

Arthur would not let him be executed.

Which meant that he had to convince Merlin to leave, even though it would hurt both of them. What were the chances that Merlin had actually been planning to stay in Camelot anyway? He'd probably just been passing through, and he could continue on his journey. Arthur could send him letters somehow, and they would meet again once Arthur was king.

Being king never seemed so far away.

He didn't remember falling asleep, but the next time he opened his eyes, the sky was clearly darker, and someone was knocking on his door.

"Arthur Pendragon." The door to his rooms swung open and Morgana marched in. Arthur had forgotten to lock the door.

"Morgana, not now," Arthur moaned.

"Some boy got sent to the dungeons, again! I thought you'd gotten over this phase, you haven't sent anyone there for months!"

"Morgana…"

"At least you look miserable. You deserve it."

Arthur turned his head and faced her. By the pattern, Arthur knew she was wearing the dress that was supposed to be purple. He hadn't seen any purple yet, but it looked much friendlier than red. It looked warm, but cool and calm at the same time -"

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Morgana crossed her arms defensively over her chest, which Arthur found mildly amusing. Morgana wasn't normally self-conscious.

Arthur looked back up at the ceiling and sighed.

"Okay, Arthur, what is it now? Did that boy in the dungeons wound your pride that badly?"

Arthur shook his head. "Your dress is purple," he said.

"Yes, and?" Morgana pressed.

"It's a nice colour, purple. Not as good as blue, but pretty, all the same."

Arthur turned in time to see Morgana's eyebrows raise and her mouth twitch ever so slightly.

"You met your soulmate," she whispered. "Where? When? Does Uther have them? I hadn't heard about any new sorcerers being brought in, but - oh. Oh, Arthur, you're so lucky no one figured it out."

"I know."

"What are you going to do?"

Arthur sat up. "I'll go let him out in the morning. I'll tell him he has to leave, of course. He can't stay here, he'll be caught. And then we'll go our separate ways, for now." It was what had to be done.

Morgana turned her head away for a moment before meeting Arthur's eyes again. "That won't work?"

"Why not?"

"He's already gotten out of his cell."

"What?" The first thing Arthur thought of was magic. Merlin had used it to escape from his cell and was now on the run, and Arthur would never see him again because Merlin would be terrified of him, and why should he be, Arthur had thrown him in the dungeon and threatened him, why hadn't he gone straight down to see him, it would have been worth the risk -

"Arthur, calm down," Morgana said, blocking his route to the door. "He's fine. Gaius bailed him out."

Gaius bailed him out. "Gaius? What the hell does Gaius have to do with anything?"

"Apparently, your soulmate is Gaius' new ward."

Arthur groaned again and flopped back down on his bed.

"Of all things, he had to come live in the castle."

"Well," Morgana said, "As long as you keep up the appearance that you can't see colour, and your soulmate keeps his magic secret, you should be fine."

Arthur snorted. "Just you wait, Morgana. He'll last all of two days. The guy uses magic at _least _five times a day. There's no way anyone could miss that."

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**Reviews are appreciated :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**I've got so many great responses for this, so thank you! One person asked how Arthur knew when Merlin was doing magic, so I thought I'd clarify just to make sure: before Arthur met Merlin, he could only see the colour blue (everything else was grey). This is because Merlin has blue eyes. However, whenever Merlin did magic, Arthur would suddenly lose the ability to see blue, and temporarily be able to see only gold. **

**For those of you that requested Merlin's POV, this is for you guys :) **

Merlin figured that Arthur hadn't told anyone about his magic. Gaius had found it easy enough to get him out of the cells, even if Merlin had a price to pay. Hopefully, that didn't just mean that Uther was so cruel that sorcerers had to endure an hour of rotten food thrown at their faces before their execution.

Merlin cursed his luck as he was locked into the stocks to endure his torment. His third day in Camelot wasn't even over yet and he had already been caught using magic by one person (Gaius), been summoned by some magical mystery voice in the middle of the night, tried to punch his soulmate who happened to be the son of a guy who would have had Merlin killed on sight, spent time in prison, and now, a ten-year-old boy was eyeing Merlin mischievously as he held a rotten tomato, and Merlin could do nothing (nothing legal, at least) to stop him from throwing it.

This can't have been what his mother had been thinking of when she had sent him to Camelot.

With so much to think about, Merlin didn't notice the girl who had walked up to him until she coughed.

"I'm Guinevere, but most people call me Gwen." She held out her hand. "I'm the Lady Morgana's maid."

"Right. I'm Merlin." He moved his hand so it was closer to hers, and they shook. "Although, most people just call me idiot," Merlin said jokingly. He wasn't sure what to expect from Gwen. He hadn't really done anything to make any friends yet, and he wasn't sure he should. With Arthur, _Prince_ Arthur, knowing about Merlin, anyone he made friends with would be at risk, right?

Gwen smiled anyway, not knowing any of Merlin's inner turmoil. "No, no, I saw what you did. It was so brave."

"It was stupid."

"Well, I'm glad you walked away. You weren't going to beat him."

"Oh, I-" _I shouldn't say it_ \- "I can beat him." _Idiot._ Why couldn't he just have some humility and filter his damn words?

"You think? Because you don't look like one of these big, muscle kind of fellows." Gwen looked either amused or surprised, but Merlin wasn't too focused her face because some little kid had just tried to throw some bright yellow vegetable at him and colours moving around still made Merlin's head spin.

"Thanks," he said, regaining his focus.

"No! No, I'm sure you're stronger than you look. It's just, erm... Arthur's one of these real rough, tough, save the world kind of men, and... well…"

So Gwen thought the Prince was a hero, did she? From what he had seen of the Prince of Camelot, he was a stuck-up idiot, just not stupid enough to have missed the tell-tale flashes of gold that meant your soulmate had magic. Back in Ealdor, Merlin's friend Will had discovered that he had a magical soulmate. It was part of the reason Merlin had trusted him to keep Merlin's magic secret.

However, Will's soulmate must have been less powerful, or perhaps more careful, than Merlin was, because Will only reported seeing gold every few nights - and yes, nights, not days. Sometimes he'd catch the glimmer of a coin under candlelight or of the fire itself as he was going to bed. He had never once seen the glimmer of gold during the day - only green everywhere. When Hunith had found out, she had suggested that Merlin take a page out of Will's soulmate's book and only use magic when it would be more easily hidden. Merlin had not followed this advice, though he had tried for a few months. Weeks. Okay, he had only truly tried for the day.

"What?"

"You don't look like that."

Merlin waved her closer and whispered, "I'm in disguise."

Gwen laughed. "Well, it's great you stood up to him."

"What? You think so?"

"Arthur's a bully, and everyone thought you were a real hero."

"Oh, yeah? Is there anything good about the Prince, then?" Might as well find out what he could about his soulmate.

Gwen shuffled her feet nervously. "I suppose there must be, or the Lady Morgana wouldn't still be friends with him. She opposes Uther in almost every stance, but she doesn't ever hate Arthur. She gets mad at him, yes - she yelled at him for having you thrown in the dungeons, but the way - but she doesn't hate him."

"Any ideas why?"

"I think it's how he treats others," Gwen admitted. "He's a bully, but he's no Uther. He gives fair trials and cares about what happens to people when there's less food to go around. And, he doesn't like executions."

"Does anyone like executions?" Merlin mumbled.

Gwen nodded and then shook her head. "Maybe not, but Uther and some of the nobles look like they've won a war every time someone is executed for sorcery. Arthur doesn't. They say it's because his soulmate is supposed to have magic, but no one knows for sure."

"That's interesting," Merlin said with fake enthusiasm. He didn't know what his response should be to that. He didn't want to seem too interested.

"Mm-hmm."

Gwen stood there for a moment as the conversation stalled before Merlin saw a familiar face in the crowd again, and this time he'd brought friends. He pointed.

"I'm afraid you'll have to excuse me, Guinevere. My fans are waiting."

Merlin closed his eyes and turned his head to escape the reds, yellows, and greens hurled at his face.

0o0oGOLDo0o0

"Do you want some vegetables with that?"

Merlin snorted, looking down at his bread and cheese, thankful that he didn't see any of the familiar red fruit he had only just cleaned off of his face. As humorous as Gaius' comment had been, the bite behind his uncle's voice betrayed him.

"I know you're still angry with me."

"Your mother asked me to look after you."

"Yes." This was something Merlin knew and understood the reasons behind even though he was 18 and was generally responsible for himself.

"What did your mother say to you about your gifts?"

"That I was special." That was one of the many things she had said.

"You are special," Gaius agreed. "The likes of which I have never seen before."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, magic requires incantations, spells. It takes years to study. What I saw you do was... elemental, instinctive."

"What's the point if it can't be used?"

"That I do not know."

Merlin grimaced. It had been the answer he had been expecting, but he had still had hope.

"You are a question that has never been posed before, Merlin," Gaius continued.

"Did you ever study magic?"

The wrinkles in Gaius' face pulled tautly. "Uther banned all such work twenty years ago."

"Why?"

"People used magic for the wrong end at that time. It threw the natural order into chaos. Uther made it his mission to destroy everything from back then, even the dragons."

"What? All of them?" Up until this point, what Gaius had told him hadn't been new information. His mother had warned him about Uther before, and news travelled to Ealdor in ways that Hunith wouldn't have thought to hide him from, but apparently, the destruction of an entire species wasn't important enough for her to mention. Maybe she hadn't even known.

"There was one dragon he chose not to kill, kept it as an example. He imprisoned it in a cave deep beneath the castle where no one can free it. Now, eat up. When you've finished, I need you to take a preparation to Lady Helen. She needs it for her voice."

"But I wanted to ask you about soulmate magic, I might -"

"-I'm sure whatever it is will not be more important than Lady Helen's health." Gaius shoved the small bottle into Merlin's hands and whisked away the dishes he had eaten from.

"I'm sure it's important for _my_ health," Merlin muttered under his breath, but when Gaius didn't hear him, he left to find Lady Helen anyway. If he did a little more looking around than he should have, well, Gaius should have known by now that Merlin would follow his curiosity into whatever basket of trouble it would lead him.

0o0oGOLDo0o0

It had been more than a day since Merlin had seen Arthur.

He had always pictured himself meeting his soulmate somewhere less busy, and they would be someone who could easily run off and talk to him, which they would do. His soulmate would be someone easy to talk to, and that first day, or week, or month, or year (Merlin would take things as slow or as fast as seemed comfortable to the both of them) they would tell each other everything about themselves. Merlin's soulmate would already know he had magic, and wouldn't care any more than his mother or Will did.

Instead, they had met in a crowd. They hadn't even talked for more than a full minute after their meeting, and Merlin was willing to bet it wouldn't be easy for a prince to escape his duties to run off with some peasant delinquent and spend hours chatting, not to even mention anything else. Imagine if they were caught kissing or, even worse, in bed. It would be a horrifying scandal to any noble, and probably a very juicy bit of gossip to be passed around to all the servants, and then maybe the news would reach his mother at some point after Uther had ordered Merlin's head chopped off.

Merlin laughed bitterly just thinking about it. He shouldn't be thinking about any of this.

As if Merlin's thoughts had drawn him there, the next voice Merlin heard belonged to Prince Arthur.

"How's your knee-walking coming along?"

He was surrounded by his group again. Merlin didn't remember enough about them to know if it was the same people, but they weren't anywhere near alone in the public square, so Merlin kept walking.

"Aw, don't run away!" Arthur's voice was taunting, not at all what Merlin had thought it would be when they met again. Hadn't the fact that Arthur had kept his secret meant that Arthur didn't want Merlin caught?

"From you?" Merlin called back.

"Thank God. I thought you were deaf as well as dumb."

"Look, I've told you you're an ass." Merlin stopped and looked back. To his surprise, he saw that Arthur looked conflicted. His 'friends' or 'knights' or whoever they were had clearly been egging him on, otherwise maybe he would have let Merlin be.

Unfortunately, it was too late to take Arthur's fake taunts to heard and run away.

Merlin blinked away his conflicted emotions. "I just didn't realise you were a royal one. Oh, what are you going to do? Get your daddy's men to protect you?"

Arthur laughed. "I could take you apart with one blow."

"I could take you apart with less than that."

After a second of Arthur's surprised silence, he asked, "Are you sure?"

"Come on, then," one of the knights sneered.

"_Fight_." another one insisted.

Merlin raised an eyebrow, insisting that the next move be Arthur's.

"I warn you, I've been trained to kill since birth."

"Wow, and how long have you been training to be a prat?"

"You can't address me like that."

Arthur's laugh certainly suggested that he would be fine with Merlin's name-calling if he didn't have a royal reputation to uphold.

"I'm sorry. H-How long have you been training to be a prat, My Lord?"

There were a couple of "oohs" from the viewers, but Arthur still didn't take the mace his knight offered to him.

"Careful, Merlin," he warned. "A brave idiot you might be - but a brave idiot is too often a danger to himself." Arthur turned to his men. "Come on. We've got more important things to do."

"But, sire, he insulted -"

"-If every insult were taken as a challenge to war, we'd never see a moment of peace."

Merlin watched Arthur walk back towards the castle and thought that maybe having Arthur Pendragon as his soulmate wouldn't be so bad. It would certainly make life more interesting.

0o0oGOLDo0o0

"How could you be so foolish?!"

Somehow, and Merlin guessed that Gwen coming to check and make sure Merlin was alright had something to do with it, Gaius hand found out about the confrontation with Arthur that day.

"He started it," Merlin pointed out.

Gaius' glare made Merlin aware just how childish that sounded.

"I didn't even use magic! Everything turned out fine. And even if he had noticed anything odd, he probably wouldn't have turned me in, right? I heard that the Prince has a magical soulmate and doesn't agree with the laws against magic."

"What you heard were _rumours_, Merlin."

"So, you don't believe them?" If Gaius didn't believe them, maybe that was a good thing. It would mean less risk for Merlin.

"It doesn't matter what I believe,"

Damn, Gaius did know.

"What matters is that you are making very risky assumptions about the prince. What makes you think that having a soulmate with magic would change Arthur's opinions to oppose the King's? Even supposing Arthur was even remotely on your side, there were still others watching you! This is why magic must be studied, mastered, and used for good! Not for idiotic pranks!

"What is there to master? I could move objects like that before I could talk!"

"Then, by now, you should know how to control yourself!"

"I don't want to! If I can't use magic, what have I got? I'm just a nobody, and I always will be. If I can't use magic, I might as well die. And if Arthur doesn't understand that, then… then." Merlin stopped.

"Arthur doesn't need to understand anything about your magic," Gaius insisted. "If you're just a little more careful, he'll never know."

"He already does. I know they're not just rumours, Gaius. I know because I can see colours now, and I've only been able to do that since I tried to hit Arthur."

Gaius dropped the vial that had been clenched in his fist and the tiny glass container rolled to the end of the table, teetering on the edge until Merlin slammed it back onto the middle of the table.

"You shouldn't still be here."

"I have to be here. I don't have a choice. I didn't before I met Arthur, and now, I have even less of a choice, don't you see?"

Gaius only sighed and sank down into his chair.

"You don't know why I was born like this, do you?"

"No."

Merlin sat at the table across from the old physician. "I'm not a monster, am I?" he whispered.

Gaius looked up again and Met Merlin's eye. "Don't _ever_ think that."

"Then why am I like this? Please, I need to know why. It would be so much easier if I had just been normal like everyone else."

"Maybe there's someone with more knowledge than me."

"If you can't tell me, no one can."

* * *

**I always appreciate reviews (even the short ones, if you can't think of anything else to say, I still love getting reviews that just say whether you enjoyed it or not) and any advice you can give. I usually plan out my stories ahead of time, but this one isn't really, I just write what I think up in the moment, so if you have anything you really want to see in this, I'd love hearing from you!**


	5. Chapter 4

**So, midway through writing an Arthur-centric chapter where, yes, Merlin and Arthur did talk to each other, I realize I totally skipped this lovely scene with Morgana and Merlin. So, of course, I had to go back and write this. Next chapter will be up sooner since it's already half written, sorry for making you wait. **

Merlin made his way through the castle the next per Gaius' instructions. As he'd been told by his uncle, there was no use wallowing in misery and trying to avoid Arthur. If that's all he intended to do with his time, he might as well leave Camelot. And as he had been told by the dragon kept under the castle the previous night — the dragon that absolutely deserved his complete trust after waking him up in the middle of the night multiple evenings in a row just for a two-minute chat — he couldn't leave Camelot because he and Arthur had some sort of Destiny.

Henbane, wormwood, and sorrel. Merlin placed a bundle of each herb he had collected on Gaius' desk hoping he hadn't forgotten anything and left the room once again to make his final stop: the delivery for the Lady Morgana.

As far as he knew, Merlin hadn't ever seen Morgana, nor did he know where he was supposed to be going, but with the help of a few of the maids (Merlin pretended not to notice the look of disappointment in one of the girl's eyes when their hands touched and she wasn't given the gift of seeing colour) he figured out where Morgana's tower was.

Part of him wanted to meet the King's ward in person just to see what Gwen liked about her and maybe to thank her for yelling at Arthur on his behalf. Probably not though, that might be considered inappropriate. She opposes Uther in almost every stance, Gwen had said. Uther had left Merlin with a terrible impression of nobles and Merlin didn't judge his thoughts towards Arthur to be reliable since they were formed more around feelings than logic. But she doesn't ever hate Arthur. Merlin tried not to put too much hope into this fact.

Aside from that, Merlin didn't know much. Gaius said she suffered from nightmares, but Merlin couldn't see what her nightmares could be about. What was there to fear when you lived most of your life in a palace? Assassins? Would people put that much effort into trying to kill someone not in line for the throne?

Merlin walked through the Griffin Landing and up the curved steps to Morgana's Chambers. The door was open, so he walked in without knocking.

"You know, I've been thinking about Arthur. I wouldn't touch him with a lance pole," Morgana said as she walked behind her changing screen. At least, Merlin assumed it was Morgana. She was in the right rooms. And making orders. And absolutely gorgeous. "Pass me that dress, will you Gwen?"

Merlin paused, seeing the dress laid out, but not sure what he should do. Merlin could tell that behind the screen Morgana had already started undressing, so the right thing to do would be to give her the dress, wouldn't it?

"I mean, the man's a total jouster. And just because I'm the King's ward, that doesn't mean I have to accompany him to the feast, does it?"

Merlin carefully placed the gown on the screen, careful not to be seen or see anything he shouldn't, and backed away.

"Well, does it?"

Merlin braced himself to make an attempt at mimicking Gwen's voice after only talking to the girl once, but it wasn't necessary. Morgana had turned around and looked over the dressing screen. Their eyes met and Merlin was sure he would be spending another few hours in the dungeons.

"You're not Gwen."

"Er, I just, you just started talking, I mean," he rushed to take back what could be seen as blaming her. "I'm sorry My Lady. I just came to deliver your sleeping draft. It's on the table. I'll leave now." He turned toward the exit.

"No. Stay," Morgana commanded.

Merlin froze.

Morgana took only a few moments to slip the dress back on and come out from behind the changing screen. "You're Merlin, Gaius' new ward, aren't you?" She asked.

"Yes."

"It's nice to meet you."

"And the same to you, Lady Morgana," he said back, even though he was not at all sure it was nice to meet her. Something about the slight smirk on her face made Merlin feel as though he had missed out on a rather important meeting of which he was the subject.

"Well, anyway," Morgana continued, "If Arthur wanted me to go with him to the banquet — as friends, of course, I know he'd rather invite you — then he should have invited me and he hasn't. So, that means I'll be going by myself."

"Of course," Merlin responded automatically, at first only processing that Morgana truly didn't seem to be angry at him. Then her words sunk in. "Wait, what?"

Morgana smiled, no longer looking at Merlin but at two dresses. "Arthur can't keep secrets from me, Merlin. Don't worry. I won't tell. I think you'll be good for him."

Merlin stood, unsure if he had been dismissed, or if he should deny Morgana's claim that he and Arthur had any connection at all. Merlin had told Gaius about his soulmate, though. Perhaps Morgana was the only one Arthur could go to with the same sort of thing.

"Thank you, My Lady."

"You can call me Morgana when we're among friends, Merlin." The door swung slightly and both turned to look. "There you are, Gwen."

"Yes, sorry if you needed me earlier." Gwen looked at Merlin curiously, obviously wondering why he was there at all.

"No need to apologize. Merlin and I had a little chat while we waited."

Merlin nodded politely and left, not before hearing Morgana ask Gwen for her opinion between the two gowns she had pulled out.

0o0oGOLDo0o0

Merlin followed Gaius into the banquet hall after it had started. There were already people everywhere, most of them much higher class than Merlin and Gaius. A few he recognized from doing his rounds for Gaius, but most were unknown until Merlin spotted Arthur.

He was across the room with some of his buddies from earlier and hadn't seen Merlin yet. As his face turned more in Merlin's direction, the beats of Merlin's heart grew louder until Merlin wasn't sure how no one but him could hear it. Before Arthur's gaze made it over to Merlin, though, Morgana made her entrance.

She had decided on wearing the maroon gown paired with minimal jewellery, and it clearly drew the attention she had been after. The knights around Arthur couldn't take their eyes off of her, and Arthur himself stepped away from the group to go talk to her.

"Merlin," Gaius said before walking away, "Remember, you're here to work."

"Oh, yeah." Merlin continued to stare at Morgana and Arthur. What kind of relationship did they have? Morgana had yelled at Arthur, but Arthur shared his secrets with her. Almost like siblings, perhaps?

"She looks great, doesn't she?"

Merlin turned to see that Gwen had come up behind him and was beaming with admiration towards Morgana.

"Yeah," he said.

"Some people are just born to be queen."

"No!"

"I hope so. One day," Gwen sighed. "Neither of them would ever be allowed to marry their soulmates, even if the rumours about Arthur's soulmate are false, but each other? I think they'd make a good partnership if nothing else. Not that I'd want to be Morgana. Who'd want to marry Arthur?"

Merlin laughed lightly, wondering if Gwen would remember her words if it ever got out that he, Merlin, was Arthur's soulmate. "I thought you liked those really rough, tough, save the world kind of men," he said out loud.

"No, I like much more ordinary men like you."

"Gwen, believe me, I'm not ordinary."

"No, I didn't mean you, obviously. Not you. But just, you know, I like much more ordinary men _like _you. Obviously, I want to wait and see who my soulmate is, so I wouldn't be interested in _you._"

"Thanks."

The two turned away from each other rather awkwardly. Gwen soon rushed off to see if Morgana needed anything, and Merlin went to stand next to some of the servants after Gaius ushered him away from following him around.

At several points, Merlin was sure Arthur had seen him. But he didn't meet his eye the entire evening, which left Merlin both relieved and disappointed.

**Sorry Merlin, you'll be talking to Arthur soon, I promise. **

**Review if you wouldn't mind :) **


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